


Mine

by serenililly



Series: A Heart's Direction [7]
Category: K-pop, 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Blood, Dragon Jeon Jungkook, F/M, Fantasy, Kissing, Near Death, Originally Posted on Tumblr, POV Second Person, Reader-Insert, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-19 14:00:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18136670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/serenililly/pseuds/serenililly
Summary: Though you may fight against the inescapable bond between you and your mate Jungkook, it's only as the lights are leaving your eyes that you realize: you truly never want to be without him.





	Mine

“Oh gods, Do-hyun, there’s so much blood,” a shaky, female voice warbled somewhere far away from you. “I...and I can see bone! We have to take her-”

“Get back, you massive fool! Yeri, get back! Jungkook is landing, come on.”

The world was bleeding in and around itself, your vision melting between deep shades of red and blinding white. A sharp, whistling sound echoed through your ears, the voices around you reverberating like ghostly shrieks. You heard a heavy thud, the vague, muffled sound of a boulder colliding with the earth and your body trembled in response. Pain shot through some disconnected part of you as you were lifted upwards, the deafening roar that followed full of anguish and rage.

“Y/N? Y/N?!!” He was practically shouting your name down the bond in that desperate, panicked voice. Your head reeled. The world kept coming and going, your vision offering only spotty glimpses of his face where steaming black and silver scales still lined his sharp jaw.

“Shut up, you great beast,” you replied in weak irritation. Whether through the bond or through your mouth, you weren't sure. It was quiet after that, the sights and sounds of the world fading away as you fell into a distinct sense of nothing.

_ D’aavrahim _ .

It was the phrase they used for pairs like you and Jungkook in old books, an ancient word full of weight and nuance that escaped you and the majority of your people. No one spoke the old language anymore, lost on the tongues of scholars over centuries and never reaching the ears of the common folk. No, these days the word they used for the inescapable bond between a dragon and its rider was simpler.

_ Soulmate _ .

Old stories told of them filling the skies, making Cathal’hi one of the most well protected kingdoms on the Eastern continent. But riders and their dragons had become rarer each century. When discovered, they were trained as protectors of the realm, celebrated as heroes, and revered by many as royalty or even gods.

The faint markings appeared on your hand on the evening of your thirteenth birthday. You foolishly tried to hide them at first, tugging on a cloak and claiming that the chilly sea air had reached your usually warm, humid home.

But the next morning your mother spotted them while you dressed and broke down in hysterical tears. She and your father practically dragged you before the council. You were the first rider in twelve years and the celebrations of your people lasted for weeks. The swirls and tendrils marking your skin deepened into an inky black, climbing their way up your arm as you aged, until they finished near your right shoulder on your sixteenth birthday.

It wasn't the power the mark afforded you that you wanted to hide from. Or even the fame and attention the title brought you. No, though you loathed it, you could handle that much. And you didn’t have a problem with training, even though Do-hyun, the eldest rider, drove you to your limits at each session. You endured. You wanted to be strong for Cathal’hi, to protect the city and your people.

No, what you despised was your personal history being written for you. You hated your fate being picked out by some unknown entity or worldly design. That love was being chosen for you instead of letting you choose. So you promised yourself you would resist that part alone, that you would not let yourself be controlled so easily by an uncontrollable, grand design.

You were fifteen when you first felt him through the bond, the forced connection between the two of you. Oh, you resisted that part as best you could, your stubborn pride uninterested in the instinct that called you in his direction. You didn’t follow, staying put right where you were, pretending that you hadn’t yet felt the call and hoping that he was in some village far beyond your borders. But it didn’t matter. You didn’t have to go anywhere. Because just after you turned sixteen, Jungkook found you instead.

He’d spotted you in the middle of the streets as you hurried towards the palace, your body freezing in its tracks against your will at the sight of him. Shaggy, black hair fluttered around his eyes in the gentle, midday breeze, the skin of his bare chest baked a deep, golden color. And wrapped around his left hand, curling up the thick bands of muscle on his arm and ending in pointed tips of black just at his neck was the mark that mirrored the one on your right arm.

He didn’t say hello. He didn’t ask your name. You were just suddenly in his arms, smothered by muscle and sweat and the subtle scent of cotton and blazing embers.

_ Mine _ .

The word clattered through you in that moment, everything you were anchoring down onto him, solidifying and becoming whole at that one spot. You were his and he was yours. Every right step to your left, every breath out to yours in. It felt suffocating, inescapable, and immediately you felt your mind tense, felt yourself somehow close off as much as you could between the two of you. But it didn’t seem to matter to Jungkook, who kept holding you close on that crowded street, refusing to let you go until someone fetched the other riders and Do-hyun’s mate, Ha-eun, was able to coax Jungkook into letting you go. Or at least, into only holding your hand while they escorted you both to the palace.

You were never without Jungkook after that. He went with you everywhere, a shadow to your every movement. As was tradition, you both lived together at the palace, though you refused to share a room with him. Your mother called you stubborn, Do-hyun argued that you only needed time to adjust to the intensity of the bond, and the empress’s own council constantly hinted at the importance of mating between the two of you, for potential riders to be born of your bloodline.

It was terrifying, all of it. So you rebelled, rejected Jungkook’s every advance, every hint of romance or connection he attempted, whether by accident or on purpose. You tried to never be rude or mean, it wasn’t his fault after all. But instead you kept your relationship professional, always finding a way to keep him at arm's length even as friendship blossomed. You learned how to shield yourself, muting the constant link between you to a dull, faded annoyance, rather than a constant, pulsing reminder that something outside of your control had chosen your path.

And Jungkook loved you anyway. You felt it every second of every day, shimmering down the bond between you no matter what blocks you put into place. The love he had for you was natural, the way he looked at you with those wide, round eyes that sparkled with drops of starlight and gave away his every emotion. And he was protective of you, sometimes to a fault. During training he would do anything to keep you from being hurt, even if it meant putting himself in the line of Do-hyun’s spear or Ha-eun’s claws.

The only time you allowed yourself a weakness to your connection was during battle, training or facing real threats at the city’s edge. When Jungkook shifted into his dragon form, he was a great, thick beast, covered in black scales tipped in silver that resisted every weapon it met. In the bright rays of the sun, they shimmered like pools of oil, reflecting a rainbow of colors. He was beautiful and all yours and you let that power, that connection shine through as you fought with him, moving in the sky together as one against your enemies, protecting each other, protecting Cathal’hi without restriction or hesitation.

Which brought you to the present. One minute you were in the sky, defending your city from a merciless band of raiders, and the next you were on the ground, fading in and out of consciousness, searing pain shooting through your hip. The weapons of those raiders, you had never seen before, had never been stunned that way before.

“Y/N? Y/N?!”

Life seemed to fade back in, but you could barely sense anything other than pain. You were hurt, everything hurt. You were dying and the last thing you were apparently going to hear was Jungkook’s voice calling your name over and over.

“I've got you, my love. I've got you. Stay with me, please. Please, stay with me my love, please.” His voice was trembling, pleading. And maybe it was the panic you felt faintly through the line the ran between you both, but you were afraid. He was fading away so quickly and you struggled to hold onto the scraps of connection between you. You didn’t want to let go, not ever. But it was hard, you were losing stretches of time, struggling to stay alert between patches of black.

Jungkook set you down onto something soft and pillowy. Vaguely you heard voices nearby, quickly drowned out by your soulmate’s familiar roar. You knew he was in his human form, could feel his hands on you. And then the darkness again.

“Wake up, child.”

You sat up abruptly and regretted it, your head throbbing as you fell back into pillows. Your pillows. As your vision adjusted you realized you were in your room, staring up at Do-hyun’s stern face. But relief feathered along the edges and a rare smile spread across your teacher and friend’s worn features.

“Is the city safe?” you asked, your voice like ashes. You felt Jungkook immediately at your side, tipping cool water past your lips. Deep, purple bags hung underneath his eyes, but he had the same relief as Do-hyun pressed across his forehead.

“Relax, child. The city lives to see another day. As do you, it seems.”

But you couldn’t look away from Jungkook. A few awkward moments passed with your eyes glued to each other, some inaudible level of intensity passing between you. Do-hyun cleared his throat.

“Yes, your soulmate refused to leave your side for a moment. And he wouldn’t let anyone near you, the fool. Lucky that he had enough magic on his own to heal your wounds or we might have lost you.”

A low growl rumbled through Jungkook’s chest, but you could feel his shame and embarrassment. He had saved you, saved your life when you barely held on. The remnants of magic still tingled through your body. You held his eyes for a while longer, saying nothing and everything.

There were meetings later that day with the other riders and the council. Everyone was grateful that you had pulled through, and Yeri, your artillery specialist, had spent the last two days analyzing the weapon that had brought you and Jungkook down.

But you didn’t stay long, claiming exhaustion and retiring to your room. The magic had done its part, but your body was still recovering from the shock. Jungkook followed as you left, but remained quiet, giving you a respectable distance and stopping at his door across the hall where he watched you enter your room and shut your door behind you.

He came to your room later like he did every evening to tell you good night.

You were waiting for him, already standing next to your bed when he entered. “Jungkook,” you said, voice breaking on his name, calling for him in a way you never had before.

You didn’t fight when he rushed to you and pulled you close against his chest. You didn’t fight his lips as they set your skin on fire, all along your cheeks, your forehead, your lips. There were no words in that moment, only what you both felt. He had almost lost you, had felt the line that tied you both together fade into a barely there pulse. You could feel his relief at having you still there in front of him, still alive.

“Why?” He didn’t have to finish the question. Your shields were down, had stayed down since you’d awakened, letting yourself feel Jungkook fully the whole day.

“I felt it too,” you whispered, fingers slipping between the strands of his hair. You let yourself be vulnerable, let him feel your heart pulsing between you. “I don’t ever want to lose you.”

His kisses grew hungrier, devouring your lips, meshing his tongue with yours. And you let him, met his ferocity with a gnawing need of your own. You were his and he was yours.

Jungkook wanted so desperately to stay with you, to share your bed and mate with you, finally answering instincts that had been screaming between the both of you since you met. He wanted to hold you close all night, and every night after, enveloping you in his scent, memorizing the closeness of you. He wanted to feel this forever, the warm waves of love you sent radiating down the bond between you, finally meeting his and heating to a passionate, brilliant warmth that wrapped around the both of you and tugged you closer to becoming one.

Love. But one you hadn’t chosen.

His desires, the draw of your connection, were too much for you too quickly and your shield slowly fell back into place, dulling the fire between you and forcing him out again. He let out a pained whimper into your mouth at the feeling, exhaling hard through flared nostrils at the dismissal, but said nothing. You felt his tears of frustration on your cheeks a moment later, felt his body trembling against you at the rejection, but still you both said nothing.

Jungkook stole a few last kisses while you would let him, this time along your jaw and down your neck, followed by a sharp, wet bite, leaving the scent of him where blood pulsed through your neck the strongest. Marking you as much as you would let him.

And then he was gone, refusing to meet your eyes as he quietly closed the door to your room.

And you collapsed onto your bed as you heard his footsteps fade, crying yourself to sleep with your hand at your neck, fingertips lightly pressing where he’d left his mark on you.

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by the song "Waiting For You" by Jordan Pruitt.  
> I'm currently writing a novel based on this story, though the plot, characters, and world have changed/evolved a lot.  
> I hope people are still able to enjoy this version that sparked so much.


End file.
